Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Craig Anderson posted his second shutout of
the season and Mike Hoffman scored twice to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 3-0
victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
Anderson made 35 saves and Clarke MacArthur also lit the lamp for Ottawa,
which has won two in a row following a 3-1 win over Detroit on Tuesday.
Niklas Backstrom allowed all three goals on 17 shots in Minnesota’s second
straight loss.
The Wild fell to 1-7-1 in their last nine contests against the Senators.
After a scoreless first period, MacArthur opened the scoring 2:23 into the
second. Erik Karlsson sent a pass from the point to Bobby Ryan down below the
goal line. Ryan quickly dished the puck to MacArthur, who finished off the
sequence with a wrister into the net.
Just over two minutes later, Eric Gryba drove into the offensive zone and
dropped a pass back to Hoffman, whose shot from the right circle trickled
through the pads of Backstrom for a 2-0 lead.
Hoffman scored his second of the night on a slap shot from the high slot to
extend Ottawa’s lead 2:06 into the third.
Anderson preserved the shutout by turning aside 16 Minnesota shots in a
frenetic final stanza.
Game Notes
Anderson registered his 28th career shutout … Minnesota forward Zach Parise
was diagnosed with a concussion and is out indefinitely … Minnesota has
outshot its opponents in every game this season, totaling a 419-268 advantage
through its first 12 games.
